Chapter 4
All was dark the next morning. The fog from the day before still lingered above the water and the clouds above were dark with rain. Water whispered as it brushed against the hull of the ship, the only sound in the chill morning air. A blonde head broke the surface of the water a hundred feet away. Alfred frowned at the eerie silence and the absence of men that were always crawling aboard the ship. Cautiously, he swam up to the people-holder (as Alfred liked to call it), eyes scanning the top for his captain.
"Artie?" he called quietly. Artie couldn't be too angry about the wooden steer thingy, right? Silence. Alfred ducked underwater and swam under the ship and to the other side, "Arthur? Captain?" he whispered again. Again, silence. Starting to get nervous the merman circled the ship, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of life.
A panicked thought went through him suddenly, maybe another siren got them? Alfred quickly banished the thought; no one would dare risk taking what he had claimed. Except Francis. But Alfred had dealt with him, the Frenchie wouldn't dare go within a hundred yards of the ship now…right?
Arthur probably just needs a song to wake him up, Alfred thought to himself, opening his mouth he began, "O, Captain-,"
"Toss the nets!" called out the familiar, angry voice. Suddenly the merman found himself tangled in coarse ropes and lifted from his precious water.
At the rush of vertigo he yelped, "Whoa!" involuntarily his tail flopped, further entrapping him in the net.
A harsh laugh filled the air, "Look here men, we've caught ourselves a fish!"
Alfred struggled with the ropes but soon realized that he was trapped. He looked down pleadingly at the smirking Brit, "Hey, there's no need for all of this. I'm sorry for breaking your flippy thing."
"Oh, but there is," Arthur laughed, "You have annoyed me the last time my little mermaid. Seeing as how you are a rare treasure I can only imagine how much a real myth like you will sell for." He chuckled then resumed shouting commands.
"This isn't a good idea, Artie. You don't know what you're getting into," Alfred laughed nervously. Arthur ignored him and turned to his men and gave orders to lower the siren onto the ship. None too gently the siren was dropped onto the wooden floorboards and dragged (struggling all the while) to a large tank in Arthur's quarters.
The tank, constructed hastily overnight, was wooden with a glass side and a top open so that Alfred could be dumped in. Filled to the top with water (Arthur wanted to make sure he couldn't hear a peep from the merman) the tank was twelve foot long and about four foot tall.
Arthur crouched down beside Alfred's head, "Now siren, we will cut you out of this net before putting you in there. Keep in mind that it is a long way to the sea from here by flopping and there are plenty of able-bodied men on the way there who are more than willing to kill you. Understand?"
Alfred nodded and stilled, Arthur nodded to the man beside him. The man took out a knife and worked at the net. Once Alfred was feed from the restraints the men (minus Arthur, he was a captain and would not be reduced to such labor), lifted Alfred and dumped him in the tank.
"Careful!" Arthur hissed when the displaced water splashed onto the floor.
The merman steadied himself in the water, holding onto the sides and stretching his tail out experimentally. Even though the tank was long Alfred had to bend his tail to accommodate his elongated bottom half. As he got used to the tank the men hurried to put the top over it, the wood piece was slotted to allow light to go in but the boards close enough so to not let his head pass through.
Arthur smirk grew. That was better, now he wouldn't have to deal with that annoying mouth anymore and he would be getting a hefty sum of money for the mythical creature. Ah, a pirate's life was go-
"Man, you guys sure know how to make a tank."
Arthur spun around. No, it couldn't be! "I mean, you could have made it a bit longer but I can deal with this for a little while, not to mention it's got a fine view." But it was. There that bastard was, arms crossed behind his head as if he were lounging around, talking in some impossible way through the water and glass.
Alfred saw Arthur and the crew's surprised expressions and gave his own smirk, "What? Did you really think that some water could stop me, a magical, singing merman, from talking to you all? Come on; give my melodious voice a little more credit."
"Shite," Arthur spat. It was six whole days before they reached a populated island. That meant six days of…that. And the tank was in his cabin, a large box so heavy that by now would be a damn nuisance to move. He turned to the men, "I don't care who it is but someone, someone make me a pair of earplugs." Hearing the anger just about to break out of his voice, the men swiftly ran off.
Behind him he could hear the merman's chuckles, almost eerie with their echoic quality, "Oh Artie, this is only the beginning."
USUKUSUK
It was only the first day and Arthur was ready to willingly hang by the noose. True to his word, Alfred's earlier singing was nothing compared to the non-stop screeching Arthur was hearing now. Even though the tank was deep inside the ship it seemed that solid doors (and earplugs, as Arthur soon found out) couldn't stop that "magical" voice. Nothing could stop him, Arthur had tried everything, asking politely, covering the tank, threatening to gut him like the fish he was…
By the end of the day the pirates were unafraid of speaking out to their captain and Arthur was beginning to fear having a mutiny on his hands.
One man, Rusty, the oldest of them all at sixty years old, pulled Arthur to the side. "Cap'n, there be nothin with badder luck than a captured mermaid. Worse than women they are."
"Thank you, Rusty, you may leave now," Arthur said through clenched teeth.
Rusty turned and left, grumbling as he did so and Arthur was left alone with Alfred's incessant wailing. The captain took off his hat and ran his hand angrily through his hair. This was impossible, he couldn't do anything. Really, who could?
Wait, that was it. Arthur's head jerked up, eyes searching the ship, "Toris!" he called out. When he didn't come Arthur turned to a man that he remembered conversing with the young man, "You there, what's your name?"
"Kelly, sir."
"Do you know where Toris is, Kelly?" he asked.
"He's sleeping, Captain. He had watch last night."
"Well, go get him and bring him to my quarters," Arthur said before striding to his room, not bothering to hear the "yes sir".
"Hey there Artie!" Alfred shouted as the captain walked in. He thankfully stopped his blasted singing and was sitting up somehow.
Arthur sighed, ears ringing from the relative silence, "Really, how you can sing at the top of your lungs for over an hour without getting hoarse…"
Alfred laughed, his tail flicking up and making water splash out of the tank, "What can I say? My voice is god-like. I'll sing again for you, I call this one-,"
"Wait, wait!" Arthur said quickly. Thankfully Alfred actually listened and went quiet, "I have a visitor for you."
As if on cue Toris stumbled in, rubbing his eyes, "Captain," he mumbled, trying to stand in attention.
"Toris!" Alfred enthusiastically waved at the brunette.
"Mr. Alfred?" Toris said, just seeing the merman.
"Long time no see, man! How's pirating been treating ya?"
"Good I guess," Toris said. The sleep was now thoroughly out of his eyes.
Arthur turned to Toris, "I trust you can take care of him, Toris," he said, stressing the take care of him that most obviously meant shut him up.
"Y-yes, Captain, sir." Arthur then left the two of them, hoping that Toris could distract him for five days and six nights.
USUKUSUK
The next hour or so was heavenly for Arthur. He had almost forgotten what the world sounded like without that git's obnoxious voice. Toris was definitely getting a large sum of whatever they earned from Alfred.
The sun had just set when Toris came up to Arthur looking tired. Arthur smiled, after all, Toris was here and there was still no singing, "'Ello Toris, how is the merman-watching doing?" he asked cheerfully.
Toris looked a little taken aback, "Fine, Captain. I was just going to ask you a few things about it actually."
"Fire away, lad," Arthur said, continuing to smile.
"Well, Mr. Alfred hasn't eaten recently and wants something to eat. He says anything will do besides soup," Toris hesitated, "And I think the singing problem will be mostly solved if we give him something entertaining to do, like a puzzle or toy of some sort."
Arthur nodded in agreement, "That all sounds reasonable. You can speak with the cook and work something out. I'm sure I can find some kind of puzzle but from now on you will be his entertainment."
"Yes sir," Toris said with a smile and then sped off.
How he could stand the merman Arthur could not comprehend.
When Arthur decided to retire for the night he peaked into his cabin quietly. From what he could see Toris was hunched down in a chair in front of the tank, sleeping. Inside the tank, eyes closed, Arthur inferred that Alfred was sleeping as well. Observing the two Arthur decided that he would have to put in a mat for Toris to sleep in beside Alfred. He didn't mind; it would only be for a few days anyway.
Arthur stepped inside quietly and gently shook Toris awake, "Go to your hammock and sleep," he whispered to the man when he woke. Toris nodded and sleepily stood up and walked out.
Sighing Arthur walked over to his dresser, shaking off the grainy salt-stained clothing and pulling out a night gown. He had peeled his shirt off and was pulling off his trousers when he heard a distinct whistling sound, "Niiiice."
Needless to say, it was a long night.
Purple rings around his eyes and trying to suppress a yawn, Arthur watched the pink sunrise over the ever-changing waters. At least, he thought sleepily, Alfred was still asleep and now had Toris to watch over him. How he had gotten any sleep through all of the merman's "lullabies" was a mystery to him.
"Captain Kirkland?"
Alfred? No, Alfred was still in his tank and had no way of getting out. Arthur looked around for the quiet, confusing voice, "Where are you?"
"Down here," came the whisper.
Arthur looked over the side of the ship, into the water below to see a curly blonde head sticking out. "Alfred?" he asked, perplexed.
"No, I'm Matthew, his brother," now Arthur recognized him from the other day as the merman who helped them with the French merman.
"You aren't here to sing are you?" Arthur asked slightly annoyed.
Matthew hurriedly shook his head, "I wouldn't dare. I'm here to warn you."
Arthur raised an eyebrow, "I am by no means giving the little bugger back after all I've been through. And I do not think you are in the position to make threats, fishy."
"Please don't misunderstand, I'm just trying to say that you should let him go because-,"
Before he could get another word out a loud voice resounded across the sea, "IS THAT YOU MATTHEW? HEY BRO! YOU WOULN'T BE TELLING MY ARTIE ANYTHING TOO MISLEADING, RIGHT?"
The merman sank into the water, looking up at the ship with slight fear, "Just let him go Captain Kirkland. If you don't in three days a storm will come," he whispered quickly then ducked back into the water with a flash of a purple tail.
AN: Oh how I love to write pervy Alfred… Hope you liked the chapter cause I sure loved writing it (:
My updating schedule varies but I'll be sure to give you a chapter a week. The entire story is written already so all I really have to do is edit, copy, paste, add AN and I'm done. Know what gets 'em in faster? Reviews. You guys motivate me to take time out of my 6-AP-classes-homework-filled day to update.
Oh and I'm not going to be using the metric system anytime soon (sorry American here) so if you reeeally want to know the tank is approximately 3.6 meters long, 1.2 meters tall.